Settlement Defense Front
The Settlement Defense Front (SDF), also referred to as SetDef or simply the Front and later as Mavericks by the new Maverick Hunters is a militaristic fascist state and terrorist organization that seceded from the Earth's influence during the Secession Wars thirty years before the events of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. They are the main antagonist faction and fight against the United Nations Space Alliance, the New Maverick Hunters and its military arm, the Solar Alliance Treaty Organization. Overview SetDef is composed primarily of radical off-world insurgents who seek total control over the solar system. They see themselves as the true inheritors of the solar system and believe their way of life to be "stronger, more pure," than the people of Earth. In SetDef's mind, living off-world has made them more worthy of ruling the solar system, while those who reside on Earth are weak "fat cats," living off the bounty of the off-world colonies. In other words, they believe in an extreme form of Social Darwinism. They value functionality over style, an attitude reflected in everything from their ships to their weapons and armor, which is modular, with everything designed to protect them from the harshness of space. They have re-purposed service robots into military roles, adding to their legions of troops. For SetDef, a true victory would mean the utter cessation of all influence from Earth. They are willing to kill civilians, soldiers, and anyone who gets in their way. It seems that the Front uses English as its main language and means of communication. SDF Territories include, but are not limited to: *Mars Cluster *Europa (Briefly) *Jupiter (Many of its moons) *Saturn Cluster (Annexed) *Uranus Cluster *Neptune Cluster (Annexed) History Origins The origins of the Settlement Defense Front lie in the 'gold rush' period of planetary colonization when colonists first began leaving Earth. The Front was first created as a means of enforcing martial law on off-world colonies. At some point they became radicalized and went rogue, instigating a rebellion against the Earth-led Government of Mars. Thirty years before the events of Infinite Warfare, SetDef initiated the "Secession Wars" against Earth's authority, the conflict spread throughout the solar system resulting in more planets being captured by the Front, peace was later reached after the signing of the "Charon accords" establishing the Settlement Defense Front as an independent fascist state separate from the Earth and allowing Setdef control over Mars and other territories. After losing Mars to the Front, the Earth created the United Nations Space Alliance while the New Maverick Hunters reformed with Mega man X Mk. 3 and Zero Mk. 4 joining in to crush the Maverick rebellion. Europa Incident 18 hours before their attack on Geneva, SetDef launched an attack on a SATO weapons facility on Jupiter's moon, Europa. Although dealt heavy casualties by a SCAR "clean up crew", the mission was a success as the prototype F-SpAr cannon stored in the facility was destroyed leaving the Earth without a weapon powerful enough to destroy the SetDef fleet. They also retrieved data of Earth's planetary defense system, called AATIS, and initiated operation RIAH until the New Maverick Hunters accused SDF as Mavericks. Attack on Geneva During the annual Fleet Week Parade held in Geneva, the SDF (Mavericks) launched their attack. A sleeper-cell agent hijacked AATIS destroying the majority of SATO's fleet in moments. This was in conjunction with a ground assault launched on the city, seeking to take out the world's leaders and other attendees. While the initial attack was repelled after chasing the SDF fleet into orbit, the Olympus Mons "dropped" into Earth's orbit, dealing significant damage to the SATO fleet, resulting in only two ships surviving, the Retribution and Tigris. SATO and UNSA Counter-Attack After the Geneva incident, the Retribution and the Tigris are charged with the mission to engage and sabotage SDF's military operations to buy Earth more time to rebuild the fleet. Despite high casualties in infantry regime; the death of Captain Farran, Staff Sergeant Omar, Private Kashima, Petty Officer Ethan as well as other officers except Sonic the Hedgehog Sr II (who is mortally wounded and later saved by Zero Mk. 4 and Mega Man X Mk. 3), along with the destruction of both the Retribution and the Tigris, the operation was a success, with the destruction of SDF's main shipyard in Mars; SDF's main fueling station, the Olympus Mons supercarrier; at least 6 SDF carriers; multiple SDF Skelters and Destroyers; extensive loss in infantry force and armored vehicles as well as the deaths of the entire SDF command structure thus ending the war for good. Due to the results, the SDF has been weakened to the point where they are unable to mount any further attacks on Earth. Shortly after, they were later disbanded as Mavericks. Society The SDF is ruled by a totalitarian government whose influence and rule extend, but is not limited to, Mars (the capital), Saturn, Neptune, Eris, and several other Jovian moons. Their society is deeply militaristic and heavily authoritarian and social status is based largely on individual citizens' loyalties to the regime. The SDF is also known to have a secret police organization known as Intracore. SDF society is also heavily influenced by state-run propaganda, as the state-sponsored propaganda center, the "Veritas", controls much of the spread of information within SDF territories, going so far as to block out any UNSA transmissions to SDF space. Additionally, items that originate from Earth (except for weapons) are in most cases considered contraband in SDF territories and are illegal to be possessed. Gun ownership is mandatory within SDF territory. The SDF also maintains forced labor camps to gather more resources to fight the UNSA. The reason for using humans as the labour rather than robots or machines (which SetDef are shown to have an abundance of) could mean that it is meant as a punishment handed down for crimes against the regime. The largest camp is rumoured to be on Titan. Military The Settlement Defense Front / Mavericks is deeply militaristic, with its highest ranking military officers constituting the SDF High Council. The Front requires all of its male citizens to attend 15 years of military service beginning at age 12. Because of this, the Front has 900% more soldiers, per capita, than the UNSA's volunteer-based military and holds several fleets powerful enough to challenge it. Its military is commanded by the SDF High Command. In terms of technology, the SDF is at an equal technological level than the SATO and the New Maverick Hunters as seen by the operating F-SpAr cannon on the Olympus Mons. It is unknown however how the Front managed to have an operational cannon while the UNSA only had one in a prototype state. Contrary to the UNSA, whose military is equally represented by both genders, the Front's combat forces are largely male-dominated, as women are barred from serving on the frontlines, save for auxiliary support roles. This is due to population growth programs, as the Front is grossly outnumbered population wise when compared to the UNSA. The Front sees races as equal, assuming their allegiance is to SDF. The Front uses many ranks from the Russian Navy as well as the Royal Air Force while also using Iron Cross-medals similar to the Wehrmacht, suggesting their influence. Many high-ranking officers, such as Salen Kotch himself, are of a very young age, suggesting that promotions are much faster in the SDF military. The SDF is not above using unconventional warfare like backing pirates who steal UNSA cargo with resources bound for Earth or committing war crimes as their attack on Geneva and the Luna Gateway Port left thousands of civilians dead by mass shootings or summary executions. They also possess chemical weapons of mass destruction, as a SCAR team discovered on the SDF carrier Hellas located in Venus' atmosphere before retrieving samples of it. Settlement Defense Front Army The Settlement Defense Front soldiers use energy weapons like the R3K, Volk and Type-2 assault rifles, the R.A.W. and Titan light machine guns and the DCM-8 shotgun as well as captured ballistic weapons like the NV4 and KBAR-32 Assault Rifles and the ERAD and RPR Evo submachine guns. For sidearms, SDF troops employ mostly the EMC and Oni though some soldiers also carry the Hailstorm. The SDF also has access to heavy weapons like the Eraser, the Ballista EM3 and some F-SpAr Torches. The Front also uses various autonomous tactical drones like C6 (used as combat, security, and working drones) and C8 both deployed from drop pods as well as C12 battle tanks and small Seeker robots. The Front uses Wardens to deploy its soldiers on the battlefields. Settlement Defense Front Navy In total, the Settlement Defense Front's navy has approximately 60 Jump Capable warships at its disposal, leagues more than the UNSA's 21-strong navy. The Settlement Defense Front has at least eight different fleets in the Solar System. The 8th Orbital Fleet is led by Admiral Salen Kotch and Vice-admirals Caleb Thies and Vlad Derhachov. The Front main force consists of dozens of destroyers and A-Jak cutters as support as well as several carriers. Some of the SDF warships are powerful enough to destroy a UNSA destroyer or carrier in a single shot like the Olympus Mons and its F-SpAr cannon or the Cerberus and its two rail guns. The SDF uses the R-7 Skelter as its primary fighter jet against the UNSA's Jackal while R-16 Skelter is used by SDF aces. A prototype Skelter was stolen by Nick Reyes during Operation Phoenix. Known Warships: *Carriers and Supercarrier: **SWSC-1 Olympus Mons (destroyed) **SDS Ares Vallis (destroyed) **SDS Hellas (destroyed) **SDS Cerberus (out of commission) **SDS Centauri (active; hijacked by the New Maverick Hunters) *Destroyers: **SDS Galaxius (active) **SDS Icarius (active) **SDS Nerio (active) **SDS Pavonis Mons (active) **SDS Iani Chaos (destroyed) **SDS Solis (abandoned) **SDS Crivitz (destroyed) **SDS Argas (destroyed) **SDS Deimos (destroyed) **SDS NB Quirinis (destroyed) **SDS Nemesis (destroyed) **SDS Tharsis (destroyed) **SDS Phobos (destroyed) **SDS Valiant (destroyed) **SDS Neredium (destroyed) **SDS Ascraeus (destroyed) **SDS Elysium (destroyed) **SDS Arsia (destroyed) **SDS Argyre (destroyed) **SDS Utopia (destroyed) **SDS Anseris (destroyed) **SDS Isidis (destroyed) **SDS Daedalia (destroyed) **SDS Peraea (destroyed) **SDS Mil (destroyed) **SDS Cydonia (under construction) *A-Jaks **SDS AFB Titan Bravo (destroyed) Post-Geneva Status After the events of the Geneva Attacks, and the day on the conflict that followed it, the SDF took heavy losses, with a total of 1 Supercarrier, 2 Carriers, 37 Destroyers, 1 Shipyard and 13 A-Jaks destroyed by the actions of Nick Reyes and his compatriots. This however still leaves them with a navy in the range of 7 total jump-capable warships, compared to the UNSA's complete lack of any warships active, all 21 of them either destroyed or in varying states of disrepair. This leaves the SDF with a considerable advantage in the post-Geneva paradigm, making them effectively the dominant naval power of Solar System. They're leadership situation is unlikely to have suffered much either, whilst the Front lost a number of officers, there still remain dozens of Admirals and Captains from the other seven fleets to take over. Members Leaders *SDF High Council *SDF High Command 8th Orbital Fleet *Admiral **Salen Kotch (K.I.A.) *Vice-Admirals **Caleb Thies (Alive/K.I.A.) **Vlad Derhachov (Alive/K.I.A.) *Senior Operative **Akeel Min Riah (K.I.A.) Battle Force *Captains 1st Rank **Oren Emin (Alive/K.I.A.) **Khosi Siyada (Alive/K.I.A.) *Captain 3rd Rank **Bradley Fillion (K.I.A.) *Captain Lieutenant **Radoslav Barkov (Alive/K.I.A.) Scouting Force *Senior Lieutenant **Attila Zalanyi (Alive/K.I.A.) *Lieutenant **Sang Yup Kim (Alive/K.I.A.) *Junior Lieutenants **Cesar Magana (Alive/K.I.A.) **Andrew Hawryluk (Alive/K.I.A.) Air Combat Command Outer Planet Squadron *Lieutenant-Colonel **Damien Nichols (Alive/K.I.A.) *Wing Commander **Ivan Perez (Alive/K.I.A.) *Colonel **Young Kim (Alive/K.I.A.) *Major **Nicholas Rado (Alive/K.I.A.) Belt Squadron *Captains **Taras Emin (Alive/K.I.A.) **Hari Khalsa (Alive/K.I.A.) **Rion Jones (K.I.A.) **Yenal Kal (Alive/K.I.A.) Surveillance and Engagement *Senior Lieutenants **Khoa Le (K.I.A.) **Suresh Malakar (K.I.A.) **Taylor Kurosaki (K.I.A.) **Omar Gatica (K.I.A.) *Lieutenants **Tom Szakolczay (K.I.A.) **Sergio Gil (K.I.A.) **Karl Drown (K.I.A.) **Rulon Raymond (K.I.A.) **Matthew Tovar (K.I.A.) **Serozh Sarkisyan (K.I.A.) *Junior Lieutenants **Moudy Hamo (K.I.A.) **David Schorn (K.I.A.) Multiplayer The SDF appear in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare multiplayer as one of the two playable factions. They face off against the United Nations Space Alliance in every map. Trivia *When designing the Settlement Defense Front, Infinity Ward took inspiration from Soviet and British designs from the 1960s. They're a "functionality first" aesthetic in terms of their design. *The SDF bears considerable resemblance to Caesars Legion from Fallout: New Vegas with regard to their political, social, and military structure, overall ideology, use of terrorism and forced labor as a means of territory acquisition and control, color pallet, and heavy use of Latin. They also share motivations, fascist historical roots and a spartan aesthetic with the Helghan of the Killzone series, another antagonistic faction similarly built on the back of racial superiority due to colonization of a harsh planet. This resemblance also extends visually, most notably in the design of their spacecraft. *After an update on the Nuk3town multiplayer map, the Olympus Mons can be seen flying by in the cutscene a logo of the Settlement Defense Front after the "NUK3TOWN OFFLINE" message appears and Caleb Thies would read his quote out loud. This was changed back to the original end cutscene following the reveal of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. *At the time of the events of Infinite Warfare, it is year 31 for the Settlement Defense Front, counted from the day of the Secession, when the SDF became independent. Category:Fictional military organizations Category:Organizations established in 2130s Category:Organizations disestablished in 2180s Category:Fictional elements introduced in the 2010s Category:Call of Duty factions